Like any other infamous criminals, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two individuals who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing, will be getting legal representation. In this particular case, legal representation will be provided by Miriam Conrad, William W. Fick. Ms. Conrad has represented high profile terrorists like the “shoe bomber” Richard Reid in the past. Most recently, she represented Rezwan Ferdaus, a Muslim-American who was sentenced to 17 years in November for plotting to attack the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol using remote-controlled model planes armed with explosives. Ms. Conrad tried to raise questions about the mental state of Mr. Ferdaus, suggesting the alleged plot was merely a fantasy driven by mental illness.
It is not uncommon for individuals to question, or even hiss at lawyers like Ms. Conrad who are in charge of representing individuals who have committed atrocities such as the Boston Marathon Bombing. The simplest answer might be that our society has a solid justice system in place developed over centuries and centuries of adjudication over histories worst atrocities. At a time where emotions are running high in favor of victims, and where news headlines are (rightly or not) heavily tinted and one-sided, our justice system is designed to ensure fairness and justice, and prevents further human atrocities by presuming an accused to be innocent until proven guilty. For the sake of the fundamental, sacrosanct principle that a person is presumed innocent till proven guilty, we should all be mindful that our personal views and opinions are often shaped by what is presented to us in the media, and that only a majority of individuals have personal knowledge of the actual concrete facts.
When understanding the role of a criminal defense lawyer such as Ms. Conrad, people’s focus shouldn’t be on the fact that Ms. Conrad is defending a terrorist. People’s focus should be on the fact that Ms. Conrad will put up the very best and most rigorous defense to ensure that if and when a conviction goes through, we can all be sure that the convicted person isn’t in fact one of the 10,000 innocent individuals that are wrongfully convicted each year (think of the Shawshank Redemption by Frank Darabont). Or, worded differently, through the highest and most rigorous defense, we can all be sure that the individual responsible for the Boston bombings isn’t still on the loose. Ensuring that a convicted individual receives the best defense will also ensure that that individual, where convicted, receives the appropriate punishment.
Ms. Conrad also offered her own interesting views and opinion on her role as defense counsel to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: “From a personal standpoint, I would say that there are very few clients I have had who I didn’t like. . . . .If you scratch the surface, many have had difficult lives, and, as their lawyer, I sort of see them whole – not just as a person charged with a crime. No one has ever stood up for them, and that is a very powerful, emotional thing.” Acts of terror should never blind us from the fact that those who have committed them are human beings.
The challenge for the Defence in this matter will be to keep Mr. Tsarnev alive. Indeed, charges of detonating an improvised explosive device, or weapon of mass destruction, and using an explosive to maliciously destroy property carries a possible death sentence. A proper defense will likely involved searching for mitigating factors in order to avoid the death penalty.
Smit LeSieur is a Full-Service International Law Firm based in Toronto. Areas of practice include data privacy, cybersecurity, Internet and e-commerce, intellectual property, access to information, media and entertainment, marketing and advertising. More information is available at http://www.smitlesieur.com.
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- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Marathon bombing suspect, charged in federal court with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction (boston.com)
- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, bombing suspect, charged in a sealed complaint in federal court (boston.com)
- Marathon Bomb Prosecutor Seen as Ready for Marquee Case – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- Marathon targeted only ‘in last weeks’ of plot, source says (wcvb.com)
- Motivation uncovered in Boston bombing (kshb.com)
- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: Charged With Weapon of Mass Destruction Use By Federal Court (thehollywoodgossip.com)
- Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Charged In Boston Marathon Bombings (boston.cbslocal.com)
- How the FBI in Boston May Have Pursued the Wrong “Terrorist” (motherjones.com)
- Experts: Feds’ case vs. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has holes (bostonherald.com)
- Another Terror Plot Thwarted by the FBI- Rezwan Ferdaus, American Homegrown Terrorist (criminologyjust.blogspot.com)
